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Stores face ban on free carrier bags

SHOPS and supermarkets could be banned from giving carrier bags to customers under proposed legislation being drawn up by London's 33 local authorities

They want to put an end to the 4 billion bags being sent to landfill by consumers in the capital each year and believe a ban would be the best way.

Shoppers would have to bring bags or boxes to stores, or buy reusable bags at the tills.

Another option would be to force shops to charge 10p to 15p per bag, but the councils fear this measure - in effect a tax on shopping from which councils would gain extra income - would be rejected by the Treasury.

The move - among the most dramatic attempted by councils as they face up to the problem of dealing with more than 100m tons of waste each year - follows a six-week public consultation in which 60% of the 1,752 people who